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Top Brexit developments in 2017 for ADG companies

On 23 June 2016, the people of the United Kingdom (UK) voted in a referendum to leave the European Union (EU). The UK Government gave the EU formal notice of its intention to withdraw from the EU on 29 March 2017. This triggered Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union and the formal start of the Brexit, setting a default date of March 2019 for the UK's withdrawal.

As an EU member, the UK is part of (among other things) the European Single Market, which facilitates trade between Member States by providing for the elimination of non-tariff barriers and harmonizing regulatory and technical standards for goods and services across the EU. EU members are also members of the European Customs Union, which prohibits the imposition of tariffs, customs duties, and quotas on trade between Member States and sets EU-wide tariffs, duties, and quotas for trade with the rest of the world.

According to Article 50, the EU Treaties (the constitutional documents of the EU) will cease to apply to the UK – and the UK's membership in the EU Single Market and Customs Union will end – either when a withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU enters into force or, failing that, two years from the day the UK triggered Article 50, unless there is unanimous agreement to extend the process. Unless agreed otherwise, the UK will also cease to be party to the EU's free trade agreements with non-EU states post-Brexit, but will be free to negotiate new bilateral agreements of its own.